MURRIETA: Twistin' the day away

Fifth-graders attend 1950s Hop at Tovashal Elementary

Fifth-graders at Tovashal Elementary School in Murrieta danced
the Twist, raced miniature cars, did the limbo and tried their hand
at the Hula-Hoop during an old-fashioned 1950s school dance.

As a reward for reaching reading and other academic goals, the
fifth grade at Tovashal was treated to an afternoon at a "50s Hop,"
an annual event the school has held for the past 15 years.

There were plenty of poodle skirts, root beer floats and '50s
tunes on tap at the celebration, which took place Feb. 11 in the
multipurpose room.

Boys wore blue jeans, white T-shirts and sneakers or black
loafers, while many girls sported blouses with poodle skirts, some
of which were handmade by creative parents.

"I love it because it's like a Valentine's Day party and you get
to hang out with your friends," said student Christy Amstutz.

Student Lucas Gonzalez created a buzz with his Elvis Presley
outfit.

"It was a Halloween costume," Lucas said.

Other students seized the opportunity to show off their talents
onstage. Cambria Temple won first place in the "Twist-Off" dance
competition, while Anne-Sophie Doucet was the winner of the
Hula-Hoop contest.

When asked how she honed her hoop skills, Anne-Sophie just
shrugged. "I can do it for 30 minutes," she said.

Plenty of moms and dads attended, too, taking lots of pictures
or volunteering to help serve snacks and root beer floats.

Debbie Munson sewed a bright orange poodle skirt for her
daughter, Renae, with a white and a black poodle on the front. She
said it wasn't as hard to make as she thought it would be.

"This is great that they do this for the kids. The kids were
happy and they were so looking forward to this," Munson said.

Mike Zenski, whose son Jake attended the hop, helped to decorate
the room the previous day with pictures of pink Cadillacs and other
mementos from the '50s.

"It's kind of like a prom for the fifth-graders. It's a great
event for the fifth-graders to show a different time and life from
a different era," said Zenski, who added that he had to tell the
kids who James Dean was and why the late actor was an important
figure in popular culture.

Zenski said he also had his son watch the movie "Grease" to
learn about the '50s.

Other parents laughed as they recalled watching the hit
television show "Happy Days," which was set in the '50s, but most
of the young students at the dance had never seen it.

The fifth-grade teachers also dressed up, enjoying some fun time
with their students.

Teacher Linda Becker wore a poodle skirt and saddle shoes, and
had her hair in pigtails. Teacher Bryan Henning played popular
dance and pop music from the era. Henning said he had taught the
students how to do the Twist and some other '50s dance moves during
physical education class earlier in the year to expose the students
to the dances of the time.